French cats!

 Uh, so we went to France. For our honeymoon. And we took a bunch of pictures of cats.

 These cats were in Niolon.

 We didn't even realize his eyes were different colors until we saw the photo!

 This cat meowed approximately once every three seconds on the entire train ride from Marseilles to Aix.

 DON'T JUMP!

 This is French Taco. I sent our Taco a postcard about how we were going to live in France forever, and hang out with this Taco look-alike.

 This is like "Where's Waldo?"

 French Taco is soooo cute.

 This shop is in the Montmartre section of Paris. Lots of cat paintings!

 French Taco, snoozing in the front garden of the house we rented.

 Some cat art, covering the wall in a restaurant where we had dinner.

 This cat was super chill. Most of the other cats would run away.

 But he's got an itchy face.

In Niolon, this cat is king of the minivan.

Taco Tuesday - the breakfast table

Taco wanted to check out what was happening for breakfast.

Hmm. Nothing good. Looks like I missed it.

Well, I will settle in for a cuddle. 

Taco is a weird cat, and really likes to squish his little brain-case into tight places.
Like under the fridge. Or under my face. 
But he found a new spot, despite my warning that he wouldn't fit there.

Oh yeah.

That's a good brain-squishing right there.

Does your cat enjoy squishing his head into places his whiskers should warn him that he doesn't fit?

matchy matchy monday - neon yellow and silver

Am I cheating if I just put together two of my favorite colors?

Nah.

First up in my silly showcase is this adorable silver, perforated zip case. It's made by Crabtree and Evelyn, and I suspect that it came free with some kind of purchase, because my mom just gave it to me for no apparent reason.
It holds pens really nicely, though, so no complaints here! I'm on the verge of getting seven Pilot Varsity "disposable" fountain pens, so I think they'll probably live in this case, like one big happy family.
Disposable is in quotes because if you own a pair of pliers and a big rubber band and some ink, you can refill these pens pretty easily. Learn how to do that here, at this blog I've spent hours reading.

Ahh, the aforementioned pens. A silver Pilot Metropolitan with a zig zag design, and a Zebra H301 highlighter. I love them both. The highlighter comes with an ink cartridge, which you can buy more of (sucker) or craftily refill with an ink of your choice with the aid of a syringe (winner).  I refilled mine with Noodler's Firefly. Of course, I am digging the silver and yellow color combo on the highlighter.
The Pilot Metropolitan is possibly the best fountain pen ever, and I recommend it to anybody who just caught the fountain pen bug.

I'm sorry, are those two pens leaning on a crazy pair of sneakers?
Yup.
Those sneakers started off white...then I painted parts of them neon yellow. Oh, and added silver wings, of course.  They're called "shwings" and I felt like silver was the appropriate nod to Mercury. 
I think he would approve.

Yeah, I had to paint the shoelaces, too. For pop. For contrast. For the love of neon yellow.
'Cause they look damn good.

That is the bottom of the highlighter. And my nails are painted neon yellow now, too.

ALL THE THINGS! Okay, just all the things in neon yellow and silver.

I hope I made your day extra SHINY.

circus bears from Philippe Charron

First of all, BEARS.
Second of all, CIRCUS.
We don't really need an in-depth exploration about why I love this piece.

Sooooooo many bears!

The red, gold, and brown color palette is very nice.

This makes me want to find out what other treasures I missed at the French post office.
(I saw a lot of cool postage while I was there, but tried not to look too hard because it would drive me crazy.)

The flip side was not neglected!

My bear had to come out and play!
(It seems she has a lot of new friends, now. And one of them is very well-dressed.)

Many thanks to Philippe, for his artwork!

Taco Tuesday - uncomfortable chair

Taco uses chairs in new and inventive ways.
Sometimes this results in an abrupt landing on the ground.
This time he was safe, if only because he started out on the floor.
I was only mildly concerned he might choke himself.

It reminds me of a hammock.

Maybe this would be more comfortable if I stretch out.

Super Cat. He flies very low to the ground.

Maybe I can wiggle into a better spot.

Chair rung pillow! Success!

This is when he gets a crick in his neck.

Very imposing.

Welcome to my kitty lair. I lure unsuspecting kittens here, and brainwash them to do my bidding.

 

matchy matchy monday - cherry, orange, watermelon

This was an accident.

Under any other light, these would be three very different hues.
The couch is super red, my skirt is super orange, and my ipad cover is that nearly-neon shade of watermelon that the apple store sells.

In any case, it looks like a tasty trio of colors now.

this is not my beautiful house

I decided to illustrate a line from a song by the Talking Heads. 
(It's a series of three, I'll post the other two soon!)
I also limited my color palette to brown and blue. (Weird for me, right? I was going to do a swap and then totally missed the deadline for it!)

Poor Earl! He can see his home planet, but isn't sure how to get there.

Taco Tuesday - invisible

Today I had an invisible cat in the house.


Noon:
Buzzy Cold Breeze Box has stopped buzzing. Weird.
1pm:
I can hear the Cuddle Human calling for me, but I will wait for Buzzy Cold Breeze Box to start again. In the meantime, everyone knows it's safer under the bed.
2pm:
 zzzzzzzz
3pm:
 zzzzzzzzzzzzz
4pm:
 zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
5 pm:
Stupid Buzzy Cold Breeze Box. Why won't you turn on????
6 pm:
I give up. Where is my breakfast? Where is the Cuddle Human? I'm so lonely! I will brave the world beyond the under-bed...but only because I'm hungry.

At about 6:01, Taco appears and commences meowing insanely for five minutes straight, until I pet him, and point out that his food dish is where it always is.

And we lived happily ever after.

Taco Tuesday - bubble scare

Today I flipped on the bubble machine,
and Taco immediately POOFED UP and jetted outta there like those harmless soap bubbles were going to set him on fire.

You'd never know that such a relaxed cat had such a deep seated fear of bubbles. And balloons.
He does not like to party the way I like to party.

We do, however, lounge on the couch together quite well.